In the 2000s, Geely was concept car crazy. On most auto shows, the brand would launch up to ten (10) concept cars, packed into the booth, next to the production cars. One of the most interesting cars from Geely’s golden concept era was the Geely Meirenbao II (美人豹II), a concept for a successor of the Meirenbao sports car.
The 2003 Geely Meirenbao
The Geely Meirenbao (Beauty Leopard) debuted in 2003 and it was launched on the Chinese car market in 2004. It was billed as the “first Chinese sports car”, and that was about right. The Meirenbao was a cool compact sporty car, with a classic coupe design, a spoiler on the back, and wild stickers. At the time, pretty-girl advertising was common in China, and Geely went quite far with the Meirenbao:
A red Meirenbao with a guy and a gal dressed in a leopard way, on an autoshow, at the Geely booth. This photo is quite famous in China.
The Meirenbao was developed as a halo car for the Geely brand, which, at the time, only made a bunch of tiny super cheap econoboxes. Creating a two-door sports car was a big and daring step for Geely, although the company had done some strange two-door stuff before.
Power came from 1.3 and 1.5-liter four-cylinder petrol engines. Output of the 1.3 was 86 hp and 110 Nm. Power went to the front wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox. The top speed was 170 km/h and 0-100 took a relaxing 12.8 seconds. The 1.5-liter engine had an output of 94 hp and 128 Nm. It was marginally faster, with a top speed of 175 km/h and a 0-100 km/h in 12 seconds. The base price for the 1.3 was 99.900 yuan and the 1.5 started at 118.800 yuan.
The 2006 update: Meirenbao leading
The Meirenbao received a major update in 2006, after only two years. The updated car was still called Meirenbao, but it got an additional type-name: Lijing (雳靓), translated into English as Leading. The front totally changed, with new headlights and a new bumper. The grille between the headlights was gone, replaced with a larger grille in the bumper.
The Leading got a new 1.8-liter engine. It had an output of 114 hp and 157 Nm, and the gearbox was a 5-speed manual. Top speed went up to 190 km/h and 0-100 went down to 10 seconds flat. The 1.5 stayed on, but only mated to a new 4-speed automatic gearbox. The 1.3 was deleted from the lineup. The price for the 1.8 started at 79.800 yuan, exactly the same as Geely asked for the 1.3 in 2005! The Price for the 1.5 started at 76.800 yuan.
The 2007 Geely Meirenbao II concept
Sadly for Geely, their daring move didn’t pay off. Sales never got higher than 200 units per month, and that was only in the beginning when the Meirenbao was like a novelty. Sales dropped much further later on, but Geely refused to let the sports car project go. So in 2007, they launched a concept car with a completely new design.
> factory photos
Geely released three official factory photos of the Meirenbao II, just before the start of the Shanghai show. Two only showed the front, frontal. It was quite a wild machine, with 3 lights on each side, a vertical oval grille, and a low front lip. It looked kind of angry!
The Meirenbao II concept had a clean and uncluttered design, much better than the somewhat messy Meirenbao. It has a low roof, recessed door handles, and wide hunches over the rear wheels.
When the photos were released, Chinese media often compared the Meirenbao to the Nissan GT-R, which was the hottest sports car at the time. Well, they both have four wheels and two doors, but otherwise, I didn’t really see any obvious similarities.
> Debut at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show
The Geely Meirenbao II concept debuted at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show. It stood in the center of the Geely booth on a black platform. Geely did not reveal the interior; the doors remained shut.
This MyBo logo was also used on later versions of the Meiranbao and the Meirenbao Leading. It shows a leopard’s head with a crown, MyBo is an anglicised abbreviation for Meirenbao.
At the time, Geely said about the design: “This car was designed to express the agility and strength of an aggressive beast.” Well said, and it does look quite speedy indeed. It has racy five-spoke alloy wheels and a super short rear overhang.
The boot was long, almost like a sedan, with a large trunk lid. It had a MyBo logo again but no other names. The square-shaped exhaust pipes don’t match the rest of the design, but they are a nice touch.
Geely didn’t release any specifications about the concept car. It didn’t look that far away from production, but Geely was tight-lipped about that too. With other concept cars, Geely usually said they would see production in x-years, even with outlandish machines, but with the Meirenbao II, the company said nothing.
It was therefore not a big surprise that the concept didn’t become reality. It was shown at a couple of auto shows and disappeared out of sight. Instead of going for the new design of the Meirenbao II, Geely went for yet another update of the original:
2009 Geely China Dragon
The 2009 Geely China Dragon was a heavily reworked updated variant of the Meirenbao. It had an all-new front design that resembled the head of a dragon, hence the name. The grille intakes are the nostrils and the lights are the eyes. It still had the Mybo badging but Meirenbao was no longer a part of its name.
The engines of the Meirenbao Leading continued in the China Dragon, albeit with slightly different numbers: the 1.8 with 113 hp and 156 Nm and the 1.5 with 95 hp and 128 Nm. Both engines were mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox; the automatic was canceled. Prices went up: 88.800 yuan for the 1.8 and 86.800 for the 1.5.
It was alive in 2009
The concept had disappeared from public view, but in 2009 it was spotted in a Geely facility. The concept seemed in fine shape. For the first time, we got a good look at the interior. It was a 2+2 with blue-black seats.
The dash looks very production-ready again, and it even has a gear lever that appears to be functional. It has sporty white dials, a 3-spoke steering wheel, and a seemingly expensive audio system.
The top photo shows the backrests of the seats in the back.
Final words
Over the next 10 years or so, Geely would unveil numerous concept cars for sports cars, including large GTs and tiny convertibles. Sadly, the company never brought one to the market, and even today Geely doesn’t have a proper sports car in its lineup unless you count on Geely-owned Lotus. Production of the Geely China Dragon ended in 2011.
More concept cars soon!
Very nice article! Fingers crossed that Geely will introduce a sportscar soon, with the ressurgence of chinese sports cars in the past few years… BTW, here is the Merrie i mentioned under Erik’s article today – different front bumper, different rear section. There was no Mereinbao logo on there (understandably so), only the old Geely logo.
Now looking at it, the sides dont seem to match up with the production Meirenbao. The cutout on the lower part of the bodywork between the wheels was trapezoid on the production car, theres a bit more metal on the doorframe around the glass, and the rear-side glass is slightly differently shaped, theres a distinct coke-bottle line running on the side…
So I now do think the yellow Merrie had no interchangeable outside parts with the car that ended up being produced (despite it looking similar at a glance).
It’s really interesting, I think it definitely got developed into the meirenbao especially considering the styling similarities. I saw a picture of one at the junkyard and the suspension is clearly xiali, and as you know that’s what the merrie was based on
the lights kook like the 2002 Nissan skyline ones
looks scary, the front and rear of the car feel completely different in design style.
It’s like the Meirenbao II got the Zagato treatment